Obamacare: the ruling class versus real America

By Chris Adamo

Once again this week, the Beltway Insider class has exhibited its consuming arrogance and total contempt for the people of the American Heartland. As if rational citizens still needed to be convinced, they have ample proof in the flagrant efforts of those in government to impose Obamacare's onerous regulations on the peasantry (you and me) while exempting themselves from the inevitable and dire consequences that will surely result. America is in a full fledged war, not against bands of crazed turban clad foreigners, but smooth talking suited elitists who believe it is their rightful function to direct and control the lowly masses, while riding in opulence above the mess they have created.

Americans have rightfully been outraged ever since the onset of Obamacare, on account its enormous costs, diminished services, and eradication of freedom through overarching governmental command and control of peoples' individual lives. But they are further infuriated by the manner in which the "Ruling Class" has since sought to avoid those hardships and pamper itself. Realizing that Obama's "affordable" and mandated healthcare would be extremely expensive, Congressional staffers and office holders demanded and received a subsidy from the Obama Administration, despite having no legislative authority (and certainly no public support) to do so.

Few members of either political party possess the courage and principle to oppose their self-serving cohorts by rejecting this elevation to a status of privilege. And those who attempt to officially resist the effort have become targets of entrenched politicians who consider themselves and their interests superior to those little people on Main Street. The ensuing attacks on Senator David Vitter (R.-LA), who opposes such elitism, represent something far more menacing than typical hard-ball politics. They constitute inescapable evidence that Washington has gone completely out of control, and that this condition will relentlessly escalate and devour our formerly great country until such time as "We the People" decide that its malicious encroachment cannot advance any further upon us. Efforts to deflect the statist onslaught through seemingly reasonable means have ceased to work, as is evidenced by Senator Vitter's plight.

Vitter's crime against the political establishment is to assert that the Congress, along with the rest of the Federal Government, should abide by the laws and regulations it imposes on the rabble out in flyover country. In a measure he co-sponsored with Senator Mike Enzi (R.-WY), Vitter seeks to ensure that the effects of Obamacare are experienced equally by those who crafted the odious law and ram-rodded it through the legislative process, and not merely imposed on a helpless citizenry that is then obliged to comply and suffer its effects with no recourse.

Fortunately, Senator Enzi's past personal life is virtually spotless. This renders him immune to the disgraceful manner of attack which is being directed at Vitter. Back in 2007, Vitter was involved in a scandal involving a prostitute. And while he arguably should have resigned from public office at the time the news of his tawdry behavior broke, the matter is hardly relevant to the present discussion.

Nevertheless, in a clearly vindictive response to his attempt to keep the Congress from getting a free ride while the nation is crushed under the weight of Obamacare's impending costs, Democrats are planning an amendment to Vitter's bill that would prohibit subsidies for members who have solicited prostitutes. In essence, the Democrat effort is to craft legislation directly targeting a single individual whom they intend to punish, in order to secure his surrender, while sending a warning to anyone else who might ponder similar action.

Put aside for the moment, any consideration of the shameless hypocrisy that is evident in such a ploy from the party of Barney Frank, Bill Clinton, and Ted Kennedy, whose abhorrent behavior vastly eclipses Senator Vitter's former improprieties. Hypocrisy is, and has always been endemic to liberalism. It is indeed inarguable that the fraud and disingenuousness of those Democrats, who would deride Vitter while turning a blind eye to the unspeakable sleaze and corruption of their own colleagues, must be addressed and corrected if the nation is ever to be redeemed from its current plunge into the moral abyss.

However, while condescending sanctimony from Democrats is certainly consistent with past practice, engaging in such intimidation for the purpose affecting the legislative process reflects a new and extremely dangerous low on the part of Washington politicians. This latest episode exposes the virulent and even criminal intention to circumvent every vestige of a representative government, and supplant it with an uncontested and unaccountable oligarchy that is shielded, by force, from any public backlash.

In short, the Congress and Obama himself hold no illusions that the American people are furious over the corrosive effects of Obamacare, and that their outrage will only increase as components of the measure are implemented. More profoundly, the D.C. politicians are unwittingly proving that they know precisely why the American people despise Obamacare, since they collaborated with Obama to institute measures that will protect themselves from its dire effects. Yet they shamelessly maintain that they are only continuing its implementation for the good of the lowly people, while just as steadfastly making certain that they are not harmed by it.

In light of this sorry episode, every political figure who asserts that Obamacare will be good for America knowingly commits perjury with each such pronouncement. But more importantly, those who engage in these underhanded efforts to insulate themselves and their staffs from it are in direct violation of their oaths of office. The use of the institution of the Senate as a means of coercion, for the purpose of targeting and bludgeoning elected officials into compliance with the "new order," is clearly outside the boundaries of the Constitution and the rule of law. If it is allowed to go unchecked, the nation will have made a major step towards rule by violence in the streets. While such a prognosis may sound overly alarmist, it is where America is inexorably headed if the stench of the current political machine is not expunged from the halls of Congress.

© Chris Adamo